Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Monday, October 15, 2007

Brute Force

Chertoff may void judge's order to halt border fence

By Howard Fischer

CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX — The nation's top security official may use his power to unilaterally trump a federal court order halting construction of a fence on a stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is weighing whether to invoke a section of federal law that allows him to exempt border construction projects from any law, his press aide, Russ Knocke, told Capitol Media Services. That includes requirements for studies on environmental impacts of federally funded projects.

The move would not be unprecedented: Chertoff used the power at least twice since it was granted.

In 2005 he decided to build fencing near San Diego without conducting environmental studies. And in January he issued a waiver from all laws for a project along the edge of the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range in Southwestern Arizona.

The possibility of Chertoff again exempting his agency from environmental laws comes days after a federal judge in Washington stopped construction of a nearly two-mile stretch of fence at the foot of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area southeast of Tucson. The conservation area, designated by Congress in 1988, is described on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Web site as ecologically "one of the most important riparian areas in the United States."

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On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal’s editors couldn’t even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore’s name. Instead, they devoted their editorial to a long list of people they thought deserved the prize more.

And at National Review Online, Iain Murray suggested that the prize should have been shared with “that well-known peace campaigner Osama bin Laden, who implicitly endorsed Gore’s stance.” You see, bin Laden once said something about climate change — therefore, anyone who talks about climate change is a friend of the terrorists.

What is it about Mr. Gore that drives right-wingers insane?

Partly it’s a reaction to what happened in 2000, when the American people chose Mr. Gore but his opponent somehow ended up in the White House. Both the personality cult the right tried to build around President Bush and the often hysterical denigration of Mr. Gore were, I believe, largely motivated by the desire to expunge the stain of illegitimacy from the Bush administration.

And now that Mr. Bush has proved himself utterly the wrong man for the job — to be, in fact, the best president Al Qaeda’s recruiters could have hoped for — the symptoms of Gore derangement syndrome have grown even more extreme.

The worst thing about Mr. Gore, from the conservative point of view, is that he keeps being right. In 1992, George H. W. Bush mocked him as the “ozone man,” but three years later the scientists who discovered the threat to the ozone layer won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 2002 he warned that if we invaded Iraq, “the resulting chaos could easily pose a far greater danger to the United States than we presently face from Saddam.” And so it has proved.@ NYT

NEW YORK Newspapers may be struggling for profits these days, but a recently formed non-profit group wants to make sure that quality, investigative journalism is not lost in the shuffle.

Paul E. Steiger, who was the top editor of The Wall Street Journal for 16 years, and a pair of wealthy Californians have created Pro Publica, a non-partisan, non-profit newsroom producing journalism in the public interest.

The group will pitch projects to a newspaper or magazine (and occasionally to other media) where they hope the work will make the strongest impression. The plan is to do long-term projects, uncovering misdeeds in government, business and organizations.

ProPublica, when fully staffed in 2008, will include 24 fulltime reporters and editors. It will be supported entirely by philanthropy and will provide the articles it produces free of charge.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

October 15, 2007

Group Plans to Provide Investigative JournalismBy RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

As struggling newspapers across the country cut back on investigative reporting, a new kind of journalism venture is hoping to fill the gap.

Paul E. Steiger, who was the top editor of The Wall Street Journal for 16 years, and a pair of wealthy Californians are assembling a group of investigative journalists who will give away their work to media outlets.

The nonprofit group, called Pro Publica, will pitch each project to a newspaper or magazine (and occasionally to other media) where the group hopes the work will make the strongest impression. The plan is to do long-term projects, uncovering misdeeds in government, business and organizations.

Nothing quite like it has been attempted, and despite having a lot going for it, Pro Publica will be something of an experiment, inventing its practices by trial and error. It remains to be seen how well it can attract talent and win the cooperation of the mainstream media.

“It is the deep-dive stuff and the aggressive follow-up that is most challenged in the budget process,” said Mr. Steiger, who will be Pro Publica’s president and editor in chief. He gave up the title of managing editor of The Journal in May, but is staying on through the end of the year as editor at large; during his tenure, the newsroom won 16 Pulitzer Prizes.

Pro Publica is the creation of Herbert M. and Marion O. Sandler, the former chief executives of the Golden West Financial Corporation, based in California, which was one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders and savings and loans. They have committed $10 million a year to the project, while various foundations have provided smaller amounts. Mr. Sandler will serve as chairman of the group, which will begin operations early next year.

The Sandlers are also major Democratic political donors and critics of President Bush. Last year, they sold Golden West to the Wachovia Corporation for about $26 billion, a deal which valued their personal shares at about $2.4 billion.

Pro Publica plans to establish a newsroom in New York City and have 24 journalists, one of the biggest investigative staffs in any medium, along with about a dozen other employees. Mr. Steiger said he envisions a mix of accomplished reporters and editors, including some hired from major publications, and talented people with only a few years’ experience, so that the group will become a training ground for investigative reporters. He would not say specifically where he is shopping for talent, but did not rule out The Journal.

Richard J. Tofel, a former assistant publisher and assistant managing editor of The Journal, has been hired as general manager. Board members will include Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard scholar of African and African-American studies; Alberto Ibarguen, a former publisher of The Miami Herald, who is currently president and chief executive of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; James A. Leach, a former congressman from Iowa who directs Harvard’s Institute of Politics; and Rebecca Rimel, president and chief executive of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The nearest parallels to Pro Publica may be the Center for Investigative Reporting in San Francisco, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in Washington, groups that support in-depth work and have had considerable success getting it published or broadcast in mainstream media. But their budgets are a fraction of Pro Publica’s, and they do not actually employ most of the journalists whose work they help finance.

Pro Publica will provide salaries and benefits comparable to the biggest newspapers, Mr. Steiger said. “I won’t be offering somebody 50 grand or 100 grand more than they’re making to jump ship, nor will I ask them to take a pay cut,” he said.

Newspapers routinely publish articles from wire services, and many of them also subscribe to the major papers’ news services and reprint their articles. But except for fairly routine news wire service articles, the largest newspapers have generally been reluctant to use reporting from other organizations.

But experts say that resistance is breaking down as the business is squeezed financially, and newspapers make greater use of freelance journalists.

“They’re looking for alternative means of paying for ambitious journalism,” said Stephen B. Shepard, dean of the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism and a former editor of BusinessWeek. “Steiger has the credibility and judgment to bring this off, and if they do good work, it will get picked up.”

Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, said The Times would be open to using work from an outside source, “assuming we were confident of its quality,” but that “we’ll always have a preference for work we can vouch for ourselves.”

Mr. Steiger said that relationships with publications could be tricky, requiring the flexibility to make each comfortable.

In most cases, he said, Pro Publica will appeal to a newspaper or magazine while a project is under way, to gauge interest and how much oversight the publication wants. In others, he said, his group might present more or less finished products to other outlets.

If Pro Publica and a publication cannot agree on how to approach a topic, or what can be written about it, he said, his group will look for another outlet, or publish its reporting on its own Web site.

Mr. Sandler said his interest in investigative journalism has been abetted by friendships with reporters in the field.

“Both my father and my older brother always focused on the underdog, justice, ethics, what’s right,” Mr. Sandler said. “All of my life I’ve been driven crazy whenever I encounter corruption, malfeasance, mendacity, but particularly where those in power take advantage of those who have few resources.”

October 15, 2007 and no bombing of Iran! Did the demonic and diabolic Hitler Bush halt the bombing of Iran because Putin was to be in Iran on this day? Did Putin schecule the October 15 meeting in Iran because he knew Hitler Bush was ready to air strike Iran? Putin delayed his visit for one day.

On a relatively insignificant matter in comparison to the scheduled bombing of Iran I received a letter from my cousin.

A Comment on My Book

Dear Posters:

My cousin has just finished reading my book and here is her note to me.

Hi Jerry,

I just finished reading your book and I thought it was wonderful. You have such an excellent writing style and I think the things you wrote needed to be said. I liked the outline of the book and the way you simply stated your beliefs and accurate views on important matters.

Congratulations on your publication.

Sincerely,

Diane

On another important matter my wife said to me that the genocide of Armenians needed to be mentioned.

Why do we mention the holocaust of the Jews in WW II but not the holocaust of Armenians in WW I? MSM said that Armenia is a small country and so inconsequential in comparison to our ally, the Turkish government. Are Armenian lives less precious than Jewish lives? Is an ally more important even though it has had a murderous history than a human life? People, stinking thinking reigns supreme in Nazi America, an evil, vile and wicked country. All life is important and precious in God's eyes!!!!!!!!!!

I think that because the current Turkish government is making the false claims about the Armenian genocide, that what Congress has done seems appropriate, under the circumstances.

Afterall, if the Turkish government can "wish' away the sins of the past through denial, wouldn't that be opening the door for other governments to, in essence, "rewrite history" about current day violations of human rights? (Think busheviks.)

In 1915, Britain, France, and Russia, issued a statement charging, for the first time ever, another government of committing "a crime against humanity". This joint statement stated:

"[i]n view of these new crimes of Turkey against humanity and civilization, the Allied Governments announce publicly to the Sublime Porte that they will hold personally responsible for these crimes all members of the Ottoman Government, as well as those of their agents who are implicated in such massacres".

In September 2005, a U.S. Congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide "Calling upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes."

If the Turkish government did not slaughter the Armenians that still does not rule out the Turkish people. Someone slaughtered the Armenians and someone is responsible. I have heard about the slaughter of Armenians for many years and the blame was on the Turkish people who comprise present day Turkey. These are the people who slaughtered the Armenian people.

The story of the Armenian people must be told.

The story of Nazi Israel slaughtering the Palestinian people must also be told. What is going on in Palestine is genocide by the Nazi Israeli government.

The story of Native Americans and their slaughter by Nazi America must also be told. This was genocide plain and simple.

The story of Blacks being used as guinea pigs regarding certain drugs prior to WW II was also genocide by our Nazi American government.

All these stories must be told.

Nazi America believes in and practices genocide.

The wrong and immoral war in Iraq is the practice of genocide by the Nazi American government. We are using depleted uranium in our bullets, bombs, and missiles that will remain in Iraq for 4.5 billion years.

The Nazi American government has also used chemical warfare to slaughter the Iraqi people. Chemical warfare is genocide.

Nazi America seeks glorification through the genocide and the slaughter of human beings. Nazi America is a land of murderers and war criminals.

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About Me

DWF is dedicated to intelligence and the support of truth wherever it might be found. Coffee in the corner, donuts on the side. Notice: No neo-nazis, reich wingers, devil worshippers or other types of morons allowed.